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Overlapping morphologies in Arabic hypocoristics

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Abstract

We show that Arabic uses some regular suffixes to build hypocoristics, i.e., nicknames derived from proper names, after emptying these suffixes of (most of) their semantic and morphological content. This gives rise to overlapping morphologies in which a suffix has one function in the usual paradigms of the language and, in a semantically and morphologically degenerate form, another function in hypocoristics. We discuss six such suffixal clones in Kuwaiti, Levantine, and Moroccan Arabic. These suffixation rules decompose Arabic proper names morphologically (i.e., they strip away affixal material). We also document idiosyncratic hypocoristics which, instead of using suffixes polysemically, make pun-like use of similar-sounding words of the language.

Abstract

We show that Arabic uses some regular suffixes to build hypocoristics, i.e., nicknames derived from proper names, after emptying these suffixes of (most of) their semantic and morphological content. This gives rise to overlapping morphologies in which a suffix has one function in the usual paradigms of the language and, in a semantically and morphologically degenerate form, another function in hypocoristics. We discuss six such suffixal clones in Kuwaiti, Levantine, and Moroccan Arabic. These suffixation rules decompose Arabic proper names morphologically (i.e., they strip away affixal material). We also document idiosyncratic hypocoristics which, instead of using suffixes polysemically, make pun-like use of similar-sounding words of the language.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part 1. Vowels
  5. Lowering harmony in Bantu 13
  6. On vowel harmony and vowel reduction 37
  7. Apophony and chiming words in Malay 57
  8. Understanding what has happened with the ablaut 67
  9. Part 2. Syllables
  10. On the licensing of glides 85
  11. Coda constraints on tone 103
  12. C/V interactions in strict CV 123
  13. What does the Moroccan Malħun meter compute, and how? 139
  14. Part 3. Templates
  15. Regularities in irregular Chaha verbs 163
  16. Overlapping morphologies in Arabic hypocoristics 177
  17. Staying away from the weak left edge 193
  18. The Modern Hebrew template tQuLa in light of Jean Lowenstamm’s work 209
  19. Templates and representations in phonology 219
  20. On templates 235
  21. Part 4. The Phonology-Syntax interface
  22. The Ins and Outs of phonology 255
  23. Phase cycles, φ-cycles, and phonological (In)activity 271
  24. Sepp vs Paradigms 287
  25. On Plurals, noun phrase and num(ber) in Moroccan Arabic and Djibouti Somali 303
  26. The initial CV 315
  27. Part 5. Selected Issues in Afro-Asiatic (Morpho-)Syntax and Semantics
  28. Causatives, anticausatives and lexicalization 333
  29. A note on labeling, Berber states and VSO order 349
  30. The interpretation of Construct-State morphology 361
  31. Index 375
The Form of Structure, the Structure of Form
This chapter is in the book The Form of Structure, the Structure of Form
https://doi.org/10.1075/lfab.12.14pru

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part 1. Vowels
  5. Lowering harmony in Bantu 13
  6. On vowel harmony and vowel reduction 37
  7. Apophony and chiming words in Malay 57
  8. Understanding what has happened with the ablaut 67
  9. Part 2. Syllables
  10. On the licensing of glides 85
  11. Coda constraints on tone 103
  12. C/V interactions in strict CV 123
  13. What does the Moroccan Malħun meter compute, and how? 139
  14. Part 3. Templates
  15. Regularities in irregular Chaha verbs 163
  16. Overlapping morphologies in Arabic hypocoristics 177
  17. Staying away from the weak left edge 193
  18. The Modern Hebrew template tQuLa in light of Jean Lowenstamm’s work 209
  19. Templates and representations in phonology 219
  20. On templates 235
  21. Part 4. The Phonology-Syntax interface
  22. The Ins and Outs of phonology 255
  23. Phase cycles, φ-cycles, and phonological (In)activity 271
  24. Sepp vs Paradigms 287
  25. On Plurals, noun phrase and num(ber) in Moroccan Arabic and Djibouti Somali 303
  26. The initial CV 315
  27. Part 5. Selected Issues in Afro-Asiatic (Morpho-)Syntax and Semantics
  28. Causatives, anticausatives and lexicalization 333
  29. A note on labeling, Berber states and VSO order 349
  30. The interpretation of Construct-State morphology 361
  31. Index 375
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